Worcester

Worcester College of Education Entrance Hall

PROSPECTUS Circa 1966

E. G. PEIRSON, M.A., B.Sc., J.P.

Principal,

Henwick Grove

Worcester

Tel. No. Worcester 25131

ACADEMIC STAFF

Vice-Principal

P. E. Sangster, M.A., B.Litt., D.Phil., L.R.A.

Education

R. P. R. Westgate, B.Sc., Ph.D., A.K.C.

Miss E. Dodge, L.R.A.M.

J. C. Jones, B.Sc., (Sociology)

G. C. Boyle, M.A.

H. J. Checketts, B.A.

D. E. Davies, B.A. (Corn.)

G. B. Davies, B.Sc. (Econ.)

Mrs. R. Howard, M.A.

K. O. Horton, BA., M.Ed.

P. G. Hytch, B.Sc. (Econ).

R. D. Kitchen, B. A., A.L.C.M.

Miss B. Sheridan

Art and Crafts

N. J. P. Turnbull, A.T.D.

Miss J. M. Austin, A.T.D.

P. Nicholson

Miss H. V. Simpson, N.D.D., A.T.D. Divinity

J. W. E. Dunn, M.A., B.D., Ph.D. Domestic Science

Miss J. Spalton

Miss P. Baker

Miss M. F. Davies

Miss B. M. Stevens

English

F. Grice, B.A.

M. E. Burrows, M.A.

D. C. Brazil, B.A.

Miss M. Croxson, B.A.

P. H. Cushing, M.A.

V.J. Hext, B.A.

C. W. Kemp, B.A.

Geography

G. W. Lovatt, M.A., B.Sc. (Econ.)

R. S. Lodge, B.A.

L. Morris, B.Sc.

Handicraft

J. C. Wilson

K. G. Edwards

History

J. A. Johnston, M.A.

M. O. Harrison, B.A.

Mathematics

C. Hope, O.B.E., B.Sc., F.I.M.A.

Miss I. L. Campbell, B.Sc.

J. Denniss, B.Sc.

G. Lee, M.Sc.

Miss J. A. Patterson, B.Sc.

D. J. H. Phillips, L.R.A.M.

Miss S. A. Stewart, B.Sc.

Movement and Dance

Miss J. M. Russell, F.L.G.

Music

H. Watkins Shaw, M.A., F.S.A., F.T.C.L. Mrs E. J. Kerney, L.R.A.M. (visiting teacher of Piano)

Needlecraft

Miss E. Ward, N.D.D.

Miss E. M. Kevan, N.D.D., A.T.D.

Physical Education

M. W. Randall

Miss M. Randall

J. W. Lloyd

Miss B. White

Rural Studies

F. G. Saunders, B.Sc. (Agric.)

R. W. Major, L.C.P.

P. G. Jackson

F. Lambert

J. Oates, B.Sc. (Agric.)

Miss E. L. Rolfe

J. Ryding B.E.M., B.Sc. (Agric.)

G. E. Simmons

Science

W. S. Smith, B.Sc.

E. J. Wenham, B.Sc., A.lnst.P., A.K.C.

M. K. Bowker, B.Sc.

G. W. Dorling, BA.

M. J. Hickling, B.Sc.

A. R. D. Hunt, B.A.

J. N. Ogborn, B.A.

M.Taylor, M.A., F.C.S.

D. J. Withnall, B.Sc.

Sociology

M. D. Shipman, B.Sc. (Sociology)

Librarian

P. A. I. Worner, M.A.

ADMINISTRATION

Bursar Lieut.-Comrnander T. A. Finigan, R.N. (Ret’d.)

Assistant Bursar F. C. Driskell

Registrar H. Smith

Lodgings Officer J. A. Hickling

Maintenance Engineer F. Thompson

Principal’s Secretary Miss D. M. Crowsley

Vice-Principal’s Secretary Miss L. Lee

MEDICAL SERVICE

Medical Officer Dr. H. S. O’Conor

Matron Miss F. C. Bunce, S.R.N., S.C.M.

THE WORCESTER COLLEGE OF EDUCATION was established in 1946 and is a constituent college of the University of Birmingham Institute of Education.

The College is situated in an attractive estate of over 50 acres which includes a model farm, extensive gardens and playing fields. The main building, completed in 1962, provides excellent teaching facilities and there is good residential accommodation in single and double study-bedrooms for 470 students.

The College is expanding to 920 students (520 women and 400 men) by 1967 and work is now in progress on the additional buildings required for this. During the academic year 1966/7 there will be 850 students.

The following courses are provided:

(1) Three-year course for teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools.

(2) Three-year course for specialist teachers of Domestic Science

(3) Three-year course for specialist teachers of Rural Studies.

(4) Three-year course for specialist teachers of Science.

(5) One-year course for specialist teachers of Rural Studies.

This course is open only to those already holding a degree or diploma in horticulture, agriculture or dairying. For details see separate prospectus.

(6) One-year supplementary courses for qualified teachers in:

(a) English

(b) Mathematics

(d) Science

For details of these courses please see separate leaflets.

Students who successfully complete a course of initial training (courses I to 5 above) are awarded the Certificate in Education of the University of Birmingham Institute of Education which leads to recognition by the Department of Education and Science as a qualified teacher.

Candidates for admission to three-year courses must:

(I) satisfy the College Authorities that they intend to adopt the profession of teacher in a grant-aided school,

(2) have reached the age of eighteen years by October I st of the year of entry (no exception can be made to this rule),

(3) pass a medical examination,

(4) have attained the following minimum academic qualifications:

(i) a School Certificate passed in 1950 or earlier or

(ii) a General Certificate of Education with passes in (a) five subjects at ordinary level; or (b) three subjects at ordinary level and one other subject at advanced level; or (c) two subjects at ordinary level and two other subjects at advanced level; or (d) three subjects at advanced level provided that there is evidence that other courses have been studied beyond the minimum age for entry to the examina tion. In exceptional circumstances it is possible for candidates to be admitted without these qualifications if they have other qualifications which fit them for training as teachers.

Note: Other things being equal preference will be given in selection to those candidates who have taken or intend to take before entering College at least one subject in the G.C.E. at advanced level.

Assembly Hall Dining Hall

THREE-YEAR GENERAL COURSE

Students will be required to follow the curriculum as given below:

SECTION I. EDUCATION (Philosophy, psychology and sociology of education) SECTION 2. SUBJECT COURSES

One principal subject to be studied throughout the three years, and one subsidiary subject to be studied during the first two years only.

For time-table purposes, subjects are arranged in three groups (A, B and C) and students must choose their principal and subsidiary subjects from different groups.

Subject groupings are as in the following tables:

Group A Group B Group C

Divinity Art and Craft Biological Science

English Geography English

History Handicraft Geography

Mathematics History Mathematics

Movement and Dance Needlecraft Rural Studies

Physical Education (women) Physical Education (men) Music

Sociology

Note: Students taking Mathematics at principal level may take Physical Science as their subsidiary subject.

SECTION 3. PROFESSIONAL COURSES:

(a) Compulsory for all students:

English (including speech training)

Art and Craft (lettering, model-making, display)

(b) Courses selected to suit individual needs:

(i) Students intending to teach in Primary Schools will take courses in the teaching of Mathematics, Physical Education and Religious Knowledge together with one optional course selected from the following:

Needlecraft, Music, Dance, Drama, Divinity, Social Studies, Remedial Education, Handicraft, Science.

(ii) Students who may teach in either Primary or Secondary Schools will take courses in the teaching of Mathematics and Physical Education together with one optional course selected from the list given under (i) above.

(iii) Students preparing to teach as subject specialists in Secondary Schools will take one ancillary course (Mathematics, Divinity or Social Studies).

SECTION 4. TEACHING PRACTICE

All students will be required to complete a minimum of 4 weeks teaching practice. The practising schools are situated in five counties (Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire) enabling students to obtain experience of schools in both urban and rural areas.

THREE-YEAR COURSE IN DOMESTIC SCIENCE

The course is designed for those who wish to train as specialist teachers of Domestic Science in secondary schools. There will be two groups in each year, group A being for those having a special interest in rural life and wishing to teach in rural schools or become instructresses in Rural Domestic Economy.

The curriculum is broadly the same as that outlined above, but all students take Science in Section 3 in place of one of the ancillary subjects listed in paragraph b (iii). Subject courses under Section 2 are as follows:

Group A. Principal subject: Housecraft (Home management, Cookery)

Subsidiary subject: Rural Studies (Horticulture, livestock management, dairying)

Group B. Principal subject: Housecraft (Home management, Cookery) Subsidiary subject: Needlecraft

Teaching practice is arranged to give experience in both urban and rural schools having good facilities for the teaching of housecraft and allied subjects. Those who may wish to take up appointments as instructresses in Rural Domestic Economy will be given opportunities for work with adult groups.

THREE-YEAR COURSE IN RURAL STUDIES

The course is designed for those who wish to qualify as specialist teachers of Rural Studies. The farm, with its variety of pedigree stock, and the extensive flower, fruit and vegetable gardens provide excellent facilities for varied practical work to enable students to become proficient in all the most important farm and garden operations and to tackle the organization of a school farm or garden with confidence. As the College provides a three-year course for teachers of Rural Domestic Economy, students taking the special course in Rural Studies will have opportunities to assist in the processing of the products of the garden, orchard and farm.

The curriculum is as outlined for the three-year general course, subject courses under Section 2 being as follows:

Principal subject: Rural Studies (Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural Crafts) Subsidiary subject: Rural Science.

Teaching practice is arranged in schools which have well developed courses in Rural Studies and good facilities for this work.

Biology Laboratory Agriculture Room

THREE-YEAR COURSE IN SCIENCE

This course is designed for those who wish to qualify as specialist teachers of Science in secondary schools. All students will study the three main branches of Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, but will take either the Biological sciences or Physical sciences to a more advanced level. The course will also include Meteorology, Geology, Astronomy and Photography.

Throughout the course emphasis will be placed on practical work both in the field and in the laboratory.

The curriculum is as outlined for the three-year general course, subject courses under Section 2 being as follows:

Group A. Principal subject: Biological Science.

Subsidiary subject: Physical Science

Group B. Principal subject: Physical Science

Subsidiary subject: Biological Science.

Teaching practice is arranged to give opportunities for specialist science teaching in schools with well-equipped laboratories.

Students admitted to the three-year course as resident students will spend one year in recognized lodgings and two years in a hall of residence. The College Lodgings’ Officer makes all arrangements for the accommodation of resident students in lodgings.

Students are expected to provide their own books, stationery and other materials needed for the course. The maintenance grant paid to recognized students includes an element of 35 per year for this purpose.

Uniform clothing is required for certain activities such as physical education, dance, domestic science; details will be provided with the joining instructions sent to accepted candidates before the course commences.

A well-equipped Sick Bay is provided under the charge of a fully qualified Matron, and the College Medical Officer pays regular visits. Students should register with the College Medical Officer for the period of the course.

The Union Society is an autonomous body having full responsibility for promoting athletic, cultural and social activities for the College through its affiliated clubs and societies. Its affairs are governed by a Council consisting of elected repre sentatives of the student body. All students become members of the Union Society on joining the College.

The Society has built up a flourishing community life and its societies cater for a wide range of interests. There are good facilities for games and provision is made for Cricket, Association Football, Rugby Football, Hockey, Tennis, Basketball, Net ball, Badminton, Athletics, Swimming, Lacrosse, Rounders, Canoeing, Table-tennis and Fencing.

The beautiful surrounding countryside of Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Gloucestershire gives exceptional scope for rambling and cycling, the Malvern Hills and the Cotswold country being within easy reach. There are also frequent excursions to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon and to other places of interest in the neighbourhood.

Students who are normally resident in England and Wales and who intend to teach in a grant-aided school on completing the course are eligible for grant aid. For single resident students the maximum grant covers the full cost of tuition, board and lodging and a personal allowance of £156 per year: day students receive a maintenance allowance in lieu of board and lodging. Students who are married when they commence the course may be eligible for dependants’ allowances. Full details are given in Ministry of Education Form 101 R.T.C. which may be obtained on application to the office of any Local Education Authority.

Applications for admission should be made on or after 8th October in the year preceding entry. All correspondence relating to admission should be addressed to the Registrar, Worcester College of Education, Henwick Grove, Worcester.

Sunday Mercury Article February 16^th 1969

Hard Work and Harmony

WHERE THE STUDENT IMAGE IS BRIGHT

THE student image is at its lowest ebb. Public goodwill has been soured by unkempt young people lolling arrogantly in ransacked offices, squatting in passive disobedience and preaching anarchy and disruption

Yet there are students - many more than most of us would believe—who work hard, play hard and who, because they have proved they are responsible, have achieved much more than their militant contemporaries.

Worcester College of Education (motto: We aspire to inspire) is one institution where hard work and harmony prevail. The college has won the respect of the cathedral city which is its home.

The 1,000 students, through a Joint Academic Consultative Committee of staff and students, have a say in what they may learn and how it is taught. The committee of 16 has a student chairman and, says the Students’ Union President, Alan Porter: “There is no question of our being under the thumb.”

Set up after the Second World War in a cluster of drab concrete huts, the college catered for teachers’ emergency training. Good social foundations were laid in an atmosphere where many of the war-veteran students were as old as the staff.

Today, two-thirds of the 1,000 students are resident on a compact campus which also includes a miniature farm, a students’ bar and a well-equipped laundrette.

The Joint Academic Consultative Committee (JACK) is duplicated by mini-JACKS in each college department, and each of the seven halls of residence is administered by a joint committee of staff and students whose terms of reference range from the provision of facilities for brewing coffee to fixing the hours for mixed visiting at night.

The Principal, Mr. E. G. Peirson, is a quiet man with liberal views and a strong sense of fair play.

“The college attitude has changed, too. With 1,000 young men and women living so closely together we are bound to have problems. If a girl comes to me and says she is pregnant that doesn’t mean she cannot finish her course. Ten years ago she’d have had to leave.”

Harmony between staff and students is complemented with harmony between the college and the city

A recent Charities Week raised £1,700 for the handicapped children of Worcester, and at present the students are looking round for more money to build an adventure playground in the city.

A scheme is also going ahead to build an ornamental garden at the rear of Unity House, the centre for Worcester’s handicapped.

At week-ends several students help out with driving for the city’s meals-on-wheels service,

This is the sort of unselfish work and play that can bridge the gap between the generations. The students at Worcester are helping build that bridge.

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GILLIAN STATHAM takes a look at Worcester College of Education — where potential teachers from a wide area are trained for their chosen career - and discovers an understandable concern in the decline of employment opportunities.

Like many similar colleges elsewhere, Worcester College of Education was opened in 1946 to cater for the urgent post-war demand for teachers. This teacher shortage, due partly to the anticipated school “bulge” and partly to the fact that few teachers were trained during the war, continued for many years and only comparatively recently has the situation changed. In fact, some newly qualified teachers are now facing difficulty in securing employment—an entirely new circumstance that is understandably causing concern among principals of colleges of education.

“Indeed, we have heard of some of our recently qualified students — often good ones —who haven’t yet found jobs. We’re worried about it, because if it becomes generally known, recruitment may be affected,” says Mr. E. G. Peirson, Principal of the Worcester College of Education.

Today’s difficulties, however, reflect the economic climate rather than a situation in which every local authority has solved the staffing problems of its primary and secondary schools.

Classes, particularly in industrial areas, are often still too large, but shortage of money for new buildings and extra staff is seriously limiting expansion. There is, however, a good chance that the job situation will improve with the raising of the school leaving age to 16 in the year 1972—73.

Always a mixed college — with a ratio of two women to every man — Worcester is a constituent college of Birmingham University’s School of Education. With approximately 1,1 50 students, it is one of the larger colleges in the West Midlands, and expects its numbers to rise to 1,250. This figure would have been reached already had it not been for what Mr. Peirson

describes as “an unexpected increase in the wastage rate”. Over the whole three-year course this is twelve per cent, and within the first year, eight per cent — affecting men and women equally.

The reasons for this increase—which began to be noticeable about two years ago—are, suggests Mr. Peirson, two-fold. “Students who feel that teaching is not the right job for them now face up to it, and drop out to look for alternative careers. In addition, many students today seem to have formed stronger home attachments and can’t cope with being separated from their boy or girl friends or from their homes.” It would, no doubt, be reasonable also to assume that the increasingly difficult employment position may have an affect on students’ future attitudes.

Students at Worcester are drawn from all over the country; eighty per cent of those accepted have a minimum of one “A” level and sixty per cent have at least two “A” levels. The remaining twenty per cent comprise mature students with rather different qualifications.

Apart from the normal three-year course, the College offers one-term special courses in physics, creative dance and rural crafts. In addition there are two one-year courses in mathematics and English, and all these particular courses have proved attractive to overseas students. Mathematics is, in fact, one of the College’s strengths, and head of the department is Mr. Cyril Hope, director of the Midlands Mathematical Experiment.

But perhaps the most important course run at the College is that in Rural Studies, pioneered twenty-five years ago with the object of linking teaching to environment. “It really began as an extension of school gardening, but over the years it has become increasingly scientific and has helped teachers to use the natural environment to produce an understanding of science,” Mr. Peirson says.

Students, who may eventually teach rural studies in either primary or secondary schools, have the benefit of an experimental farm unit which includes a herd of Jersey cows. Science, too, is strong at Worcester, and a course is provided for students who intend to teach this subject using the various Nuffield projects. Other courses include an important one in home economics with a subsidiary study of rural home economics.

The purpose of this course, declares the College prospectus, “is to develop, in this exciting and topical area, a knowledge of the family and family life related to physical requirements.” The College is also well known for its courses on modern dance, and head of this department is Miss Joan Russell, who is distinguished for her work in this field. There are no language courses. “This is one area we deliberately don’t touch on the grounds that you can’t do everything well,” says Mr. Peirson.

Students are provided with some background on the teaching of immigrant children, and courses are available for those who are interested in the education of backward and handicapped children. “More students these days are interested in social problems; they’re not nearly as self-centered as they once were, and I think they have a real sense of mission.”

The rural crafts course, under Mr. Fred Lambert, during which traditional old tools are hand-made and used, is Unique in colleges of this kind,

Like many training colleges, Worcester provides post-graduate courses and courses for mature students; between fifteen and twenty married women are admitted annually to the three-year course, though this figure may well drop if the employment position worsens and opportunities for part-time teaching — particularly favoured by married women — lessen. In addition, twelve American students from New Jersey attend the College each year for the autumn term.

At the end of the first of their three-year course, students may, if they wish, register for a four-year course leading to a BEd. Degree awarded by Birmingham University.

Regulations for acceptance do, however, cause the College some concern. “Students wishing to register must have two “A” levels, and this hits at the mature student who may not have these qualifications but may be very able. We feel that it excludes a number of very able people. Many universities allow students to demonstrate their ability by their work during the course. In addition, the University decided that it would not include any subjects in the degree that it did not teach itself. We managed to get in our Rural Studies, but the Home Economics course was hit, and we feel that these students are being denied an opportunity to obtain a BEd.”

A further cause for concern is the University’s recently introduced system of awarding an honours degree. “From 1973 the B.Ed. may be awarded as an honours degree, but so much depends on how you interpret an honours degree.”

Other Universities, Mr. Peirson points out, offer classified B.Ed. honours degrees, and he fears that “better candidates for admission to Worcester have turned their attention elsewhere. Consequently the academic level has been falling; the proportion admitted with more than two ‘A’ levels has dropped by ten per cent, although the number admitted with one or more ‘A’ levels now remains steady. The College, he says, is most anxious that “nothing should happen to erode the standard we have maintained”.

In general, colleges of education have escaped violent demonstrations of student unrest, and at Worcester two students sit on the governing body. “Traditionally we have very good relations with the students. Of course, they have a strong vocational commitment, and they do see that the course they are following is relevant to what they eventually want to do. We don’t attract lots of people who are violently anti-establishment; they see that there must be a framework for society or they wouldn’t be here.” Apart from some pressure to remove the time limit set on mixed visiting — it now stands at 11 p.m. during the week and midnight at weekends — the only other slight demonstration of unrest was a one-day strike in support of the teachers’ pay claim.